Self-aid high-pressure metering system



June 16, 1953 c. D. BAucoM -AID HIGH- SELF PRESSURE METERING SYSTEM Filed Aug. 5l, 1950 INVENTOR. c. D. BAUCOM Y E N R O T T. A

Patented June 16,v a 1953 .-f'sELfAIDHGHLPREssURE METERING t--oFFIcE SYSTEM .h inventionrelates.. tofs a.. lconstant y pressure-fortheparticularfluidunder the prevailing temperature conditions withiaminimum external` power requirementqduring; operation and -Carson1D.` Baucom, Raleigh', C..

,1950, seria-1N. 182,577

the utilization of theoavailable. energy residing*- inathel metered. or measured liquid.

.Infthe use of previous systems for dispensing andmetering volatile liquids .and liquied gases, suchias anhydrous ammonia, butane, propane and the like. considerable., difficulty has been en.-

countered.: `since these gases: are, gaseous at norv-V mal' atmospheric temperatureandpressure but are liquiiiable by application of additional pres'-` sure,. and sincey either an increase intemperature .or a decrease in pressure aid vvaporization thus addingto thediiiiculty ofthe'metering of measuring of suchliquids. i

Any vapor thus formed or expanded beforethe liquid reaches the meter. will adversely affect the accuracy of the meter readingfsince the. meter will operate'oneither vapor or on liquid and when vapor ispresent the. meterwill give volumeindicavtions in excess of the. actualvolume of liquid dispensed.

Variousl systems have' been devised toA overcome this difficulty'.v Inmost ofthese systems a pump. isutilized tofdispensethe liquid,` and a back'pres' surevalve is providedatapoint. in the system pastthe meter. to maintain a .relatively high pressure on the liquid during metering which pressure is somewhat higher. than the:v maximum vapor pressure which is, anticipated for the particular. fluid.r under the. prevailing climatic conditions.

However, .with these` systems. pumping of the liquid at high pressure and.v friction.v during` passage through the yback pressureA valve.` generate a considerable. amount of heat'whichr` raises the. iinal temperature of the fluid dischargedfand causes. vaporization in the receiving: tank vorl other container. Furthermoregthe amount of. power'required to pump the liquid at high pressureV is relatively large and the systemsA are. therefore expensive to operate.:

Some of these systems incorporate ya difieren-- tial pressure regulator'which maintains the pressure on the meter at aconstant amount over the. vapor pressure in the storage tanklor a pressure ratio regulatorY whichmaintains the pressure on the meter at a constant ratio to the vaporpressure in the storage tank. These expedients slightly reduce the pressure and external power `required during periods of-lower temperature,` but are ineiectiveiwhen the temperature is high and do not lowerthe discharge temperature of the liquid which will result inexcessive vap'orizaj-4 tionY inthe receiving container such as a vt'anlz'car ortruck with a consequent reduction in thev actual amount of liquid orpay loadV which can be carried.v f f Cinev object ofA theJ present `invention i'sto44 pro'- vvide a constant pressure metering system which overcomes the disadvantages',enumerated above k'and minimizes. the heating ofthe fluidi pumped and theV external' power requirement for` pump.

ingfwith a consequent substantial reduction. in theV overall cost of` operation.

Another object of thepresent invention. is the provision of a dispensing and meteringsystem for volatile liquids. which maintains a constant pressure through the. meter above the pressure of vaporization for the particular liquid' and prevailingV temperature conditions and utilizes the pressure.V drop between the metering pressure and Vdischarge pressure to operate a uid motor which f provides a substantial amount of the power required for pumping by converting'the potential. energy. ofthe liquid .underl pressure. into kinetic energy. y

The dispensing and metering. system, asv disclosed herein illustrating onepreferred embodimentY of the. present invention, includes: a motor driven pump whichv withdraws liquid from a storage receptacle, ameter through which the` lliquid is pumped at a relatively yhigh pressure above. the-vapor pressure for the particular liquid and temperature conditions, apressure regulating valve. which maintains. a constant pressure on the liquid -passing through thermeter, a huid motor `which is: coupled through an overrunning .clutch to thepump andreceives. liquid discharged from the pressure. vregulatingvalve7 thus utilizing the-*liquid under pressur'eutoisupply a substantial amount of the power required for. driving the pump, and a by/-pass line around the fluid motor' controlled. by a pressure-reducing s valve to. dischargethe excess uidnot utilizedby the vtioniwill be apparent from the following descriptonftaken in conjunction with the' drawings,l wherein the'singlegure isa diagrammatic elevation of a system illustrating one preferred ein-A bodiment of the present invention.

` Referring now to the drawing in detail a. stor commonly used for bulk storage of gasoline, bu-4 tane, propane and similar uids.

A ventor fill pipe I4 extends from the upper k" portion of receptacle I0 to a point above the ground, and a conduit lliv extends from a point near the bottom of the receptacle'ltoA a pump I8 which is directly driven by a motor 2U through y a shaft 22. The motor 20 may be an electric, me-

" or recording device'which will indicate the quantity of ud which the meter has measured.

valve 32 to a iluid motor 36. Motor 36 drives a f.

shaft 38 which is connected through an overruni ning clutch 40 to a shaft 42 on pump A'I8 Clutch 40 may be a mechanical overrunning clutch ora magnetic or hydraulic clutch couldbgejutilized.

A by-pass line 44 extends around fluidvmotor 36 from conduit 34 through a'pressure-reducing valve 46 and a conduit 48 which connects with the discharge conduit 56 extending from uid motor36. ,Y A.. Discharge conduit 50 may be connected through acontrol valve 52 to any suitable receiving container, such as the tank car 54 shown, a tank truck, a small bottle commonly used for propane and butane, or the system may be used to deliver the volatile liquid from a tank car or truck directly into the consumers storage tank.

In the operation of the system illustrated the pressure regulating valve 32 is set to maintain a suitable constantin the system from pump I8` through the meter 26, which Ipressure will be above the pressure of vaporization*` for the par-I ticular fluid under the prevailing temperatures encountered in operation; This will prevent the liquid I2 from forming a vapor While passing without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and, therefore, the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawings and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the appended claims. e What is claimed is:

1. The, `method of dispensing and metering volatile liquid from a storage receptacle to a receiving container comprising pumping liquid from-the storage receptacle through a meter at relatively high pressure above the vapor pressure of the liquid v.at prevailing "temperatures, 'passing theliquid through'a pressure regulating valve for maintaining the pressure through the-meter, utilizing the liquid at highpressure to operate a uid vvmotor for minimizing-the power requirement to pump Athe liquid, by-passingany'excess of liquid around the iluid motor, and discharging the'liquid from Vthe fluidmotor and the bypass into the receiving container.

2. The method of dispensing and metering 'volatile liquid from a storage receptacle to a receiving containerr comprisingpumping liquid from the storage receptacle'through ameter at relatively' high pressure above the vapor pressure of the liquid at prevailing temperatures, passing the through the meter 26 and will assure the most accurate reading consistent with the accuracy of the meter used..

Pressure-reducingvalve 46 may be set for a slightly lower pressure than the pressure-regulating valve 32 and maintains a relatively high pressure on the inlet conduit 34 to fluid motor 36 as well as preventing a hydrostatic lock within the system; Motor 36 yhas a somewhat smaller capacity than the pump I8 so that normally there will always be an excess of liquid which will be by-passed through line 44 and valve 46. ,This eXcess should be reduced to a minimum to provide for the maximum advantage in power'feed back from motor 36 to pump I8,

During operation of the system the control valve 52 will normally be opened and motor 20 started. However, if a by-pass isprovided around or in pump' I8, valve 52 may be leftclosed With the motor 20 and pump I8 operating. Whenuid motor 36 picks up sumcient speed', theoverrunning clutch 40 will engage and uid motorj36 will drive pump I8, as well as motor 20,'and furnish a substantial amount of the power required,

thus minimizing the external power requirement from motor 20. Y Y

Since there is very little friction due to Athrottling in valve 32 and some heat is dissipated in If desired, a direct drive between fluid motor 36 and pump I8 may be used and with certain types of fluid motors the motor itself may provide sufcient back pressure on the meter to prevent vaporization, and the pressure-regulating valve 32 and/or the pressure-reducing valve 46 mayV not be required.

It will be obvious that the method and systeml liquid through a pressure regulating valve, utilizing the liquidV at high pressure to operate a fluid motor for assisting in 'pumping the liquid,

by-passing any excess of liquid around the iluid- .tively high pressure above the vapor pressure of the liquid at prevailing temperatures, utilizing the liquid at highipressure to operate a uid motor for assisting in pumpingthe liquid, by- Vpassing any excess of liquid around the iluid of dispensing and metering volatile liquids and liquifled gases, as disclosed herein, will have wide utility and may be readily modified to suit particular conditions of operation with various different iluids.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the .artthatI various changes may be made in the invention Name `fDate l Re. 19,054 Heylandt Q Jan. 16, 1934 2,049,239 Wilcox i July 28, 1936` 2,402,355 Whaley, Jr. June,18,'1946 2,467,413 Wildh'aCk-...L .rfpf 19,1949' motor, and discharging the liquid from the uid` motor and the by-pass into the receiving container.

4. A iiuid pumping system for dispensing and metering la volatile fluid from a storage receptacle to a receiving container,'comprising a pump having discharge and inlet openings in communication withthe` receptacle, a iiuid iiow meter, a

pressure responsive valve, Ya fluid motor connectedY in seriesseriatim frornthe discharge-tothe,con-A tainer, a-by-pass around said fluid motor, a pres-- sure 'reducing valve in said by-pass, and means for driving said pump fromsaid `fluid motor. 5. Apparatus for dispensing and metering vola-` tile uid,1comprising Va pump, a fluid flow meter, a pressure reducing valve, a fluid motor connected in series seriatim, means for driving said pump from said fluid motor, said means comprisying shaft means connected to said pump and. motor and' an' overrunning clutch, said shaftY means being connected `throughfsaid clutch.

' CARSON D.A BAUCOM.

yinferences cited in theme ombre-patent i I V UNITED STATES PATENTS Number i' Garretson ---l Nov. 15,1949 

